Public Statements

Everyone Gets a Tax Cut

Floor Speech

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, there seems to be some misunderstanding on the other side of the aisle on the tax cuts that the Democrats are now proposing.

Yes, we want to cut taxes for the middle class. We think that it is critical for our economic recovery. We also want to cut taxes for everyone else, including the most fortunate, but only on the first $250,000 of their earnings. On that portion of their earnings, they will receive the exact same tax cut as the middle class. But if we hope to seriously address the issue of long-term deficits and debt, we can't do it by spending cuts alone.

According to the nonpartisan fact-checking organization FactCheck.org, in 2009 Federal tax rates were the lowest level in 30 years. Let's make one of those hard choices the other side of the aisle likes to talk about. Let's extend the middle class tax breaks, but let the tax cuts for the most fortunate expire and use every bit of that revenue to help pay down the deficit and get our economy moving in the right direction.